The streets of London are paved with gold, Dick Whittington said so and was right! True, there’s more copper than gold, with a hint of silver thrown in, but if you walk down any busy street, chances are you will see a coin on the pavement in front of you.

The question is, will you bother picking it up? Does anyone stoop so low to pick up a penny? Probably not – which is why it remains on the street; how about 2p? Tempted? No, not yet. The glint of a silver 5p is unlikely to make much of an impression, nor its’ chunky double-valued cousin. Only the lure of a 50 pence piece might persuade you to bend down and pocket it!

OK, I know you’re all up for a pound! Tricks have been Read more »

Spencer loves Chelsea, Ronnie leans towards Liverpool, Geoff is a Villa fan. Shame Spencer hasn’t got a friend called Mark – zonal marking’s all the rage – they could stay close together, like peas in a pod, go shopping for extra-strong underwear at a leading retailer bearing their initials, augmenting the extra-strong nerves you need to be a Chelsea supporter.

A new manager can make an impact, at Chelsea they appear more frequently than mobile updates, but don’t have the time to establish a contacts’ list. Rafa Benitez is what Americans would call a lame duck Read more »

There are more singletons around than ever before, eating microwave readymeals, having carefully scrutinised the ingredients for horsemeat, living in bijou town-centre apartments, dating, not mating nor relating, doing their own thing in their own way, not always sleeping alone, or easily, for that matter, quaffing half a box of chocolates when the mood takes them, taking the best fondants for themselves, since no one else is there to fight for them. They watch dvds, but can only discuss them online or with a friend on the mobile; if aroused during sexual scenes, they have no one to play-act them with and have to take a cold shower instead.

It was different a generation or so ago; being left on the shelf was a term of abuse, not a lifestyle choice, now, being single is hip, socially acceptable, financially viable (don’t forget the 25% discount on your council tax). Read more »

You’ve been to the property auction, sold your antiques, seen enough dysfunctional families testing their dna to last a lifetime. Yet still, BBC Daytime offer the same dull fare – day in, day out, week in, weak out (sic).

It’s not as if viewing habits haven’t changed; flexible home working, more part time work, the demographic of the audience is entirely different from a few years ago – not just the retired, schoolkids bunking off, prisoners, civil servants taking well deserved (according to them) sickies, unemployed, underemployed, unemployable…no, now the mixture includes bright, aspirational parents, ambitious students and graduates (admittedly, weighed down by debt), writers, bloggers, IT specialists, Facebook addicts, night workers, shift workers, hostesses, escorts, – an almost endless range of people with little or no interest in those damn rowing families!

I like Homes Under the Hammer and have, in fact, been on one of the programs promoting the House the Homeless project I co-ordinate. Read more »

Which would you rather do: interesting things with boring people or boring things with interesting people?

I know what you’re thinking: “I want to do interesting things with interesting people” - that’s not an option. Talk about having your cake and eating it!

Some years ago, I used to spend the odd Sunday walking around stately homes, historic buildings or ancient piles of the landed gentry, wonderful, fascinating places; their very floorboards creaking with the ghostly steps of Henry VIII, his wives and their ilk. But the people I was with? “Where’s the café?” “I need the loo!” “We’d better get home, I’ve got work tomorrow,” they’d moan. Read more »